Winter Tent Challenge '13

[Chip]

Did you have a Labrador Retriever sleeping on your head?

Sadly no. But I did have a corgi cattle dog warming my butt.

 

[marnof]

Thanks for starting this thread/challenge. It sounds a little crazy, but I actually look forward to these major snow events and enjoy any chance I get to get outside while the snow lasts. (Incidentally, every neighbor I spoke to this morning while snowshoeing suggested I needed psychiatric help after sleeping outside last night!)





I cleared out the snow around the tent before I tackled the driveway. I have to say I was impressed with the amount of heavy wet snow the side walls were able to bear. I placed the tent in an area of my yard that had chest-deep drifts, so I feel lucky I wasn't totally buried this morning. I did shake the top of the tent and clear the vents from the inside last night a couple times, and once did notice the snow level was almost over the back door, but it never blocked the airflow.

All in all a great chance to put the gear to the test.

 

[Dave Bear]

Sweet pic Marnof! Mine did not have any snow on it since it was not put up until Saturday evening out in Little River valley. Maybe next time if someone can schedule the event on a weeknight!;-)

On a side note, has anyone else here woke up with their air mattress floating? Mis-appropriated summer tent, winter camping, in a certain state campground, walls built up around it of snow to defeat the wind and caught the hail and torrential rain downpour. Hell it was only about 4 inches deep! Lessons learned! Sorry for the drift Sardog. Love the challenge idea! I would be tempted to set up past and present versions to compare!

 

[Brambor]

I killed my first kindle like that. Attended a kayak festival, pitched tent in a field with the rest of us yahoos. 9PM rain turned to torrent. Probably around 2PM there was 4 inches of water on the entire field. Since this was close to my car I yanked the sleeping bag out, ran to the car, grabbed another tent I had, pitched it on a hill (this time) and proceeded to finish my night in a semiwarm wet sleeping bag.

 

[marnof]

Sweet pic Marnof! Mine did not have any snow on it since it was not put up until Saturday evening out in Little River valley. Maybe next time if someone can schedule the event on a weeknight!;-)

Meteorologists are murmuring about another possible storm this weekend. My tent's still up b/c I've been too busy digging out/helping neighbors and strangers (and getting in some great snowshoeing). That, and the guylines are staked way out and buried.

 

[spider solo]

Thanks for starting this thread/challenge. It sounds a little crazy, but I actually look forward to these major snow events and enjoy any chance I get to get outside while the snow lasts. (Incidentally, every neighbor I spoke to this morning while snowshoeing suggested I needed psychiatric help after sleeping outside last night!)

I like to think of them as "Neighbors in Training" till they get the hang of it....

 

[Red Oak]

Here are my results; My 3.5 before https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844261701809918610
after https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844265305060218658
https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844266140356075858
https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844266272698658274
shelter before https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844262029096669138
after https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#5844264676584318578
comments; I did not dig out the sides[or top] of the tent or shelter during the blizzard.The goal for me was to come as close as possible to realistic conditions of weathering out a storm in your tent or shelter.The results were mixed.While the flint 3.5 seemed to be a disaster,with a little digging out it was fine and very dry.The shelter was mostly dry but some snow did seep in.Very fun storm with upper leg snow totals..
Here is a photo album of the event[includes pics of woods and more pics. of the winter tent challenge 13] https://picasaweb.google.com/sasha.learnard/FebBlizzard2013SardogSTentTest#

 

[sardog1]

I did not dig out the sides[or top] of the tent or shelter during the blizzard.The goal for me was to come as close as possible to realistic conditions of weathering out a storm in your tent or shelter.The results were mixed.While the flint 3.5 seemed to be a disaster,with a little digging out it was fine and very dry.The shelter was mostly dry but some snow did seep in.Very fun storm with upper leg snow totals..

Whew, you had me wondering for a while whether you would ever reappear here ...

 

[coldfeet]

Here it comes again...

Chip, My SD convertible tent like yours had a fly issue, it started to peel and flake..company stopped making the flies and are discontinuing that tent..they sent me a brand new 4 season tent that I used a few times but it's way to heavy to carry, unless 2 people carry it..I will set it up today...my old tent is still good but I need to get a custom fly for it..SD customer service told me about a place, I might call them one of these days..

 

[sardog1]

OMG. Right about the time you were posting that this morning, I was thinking this might be an occasion to hoist some nylon again! The Weather Service is talking with a straight face about snow ratios of 25 to 1, blowing snow and wind chills rarely seen south of the notches:

"FORECAST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WERE BASED ON A BLEND OF MODEL AND WPC
QPF VALUES. THERE WILL LIKELY BE TIMES WHEN DENDRITIC GROWTH IS
GOOD AND RESULT IN 25:1+ RATIOS...BUT THERE SHOULD ALSO PERIODS
WHEN DENDRITIC GROWTH IS NOT AS GOOD AND YOU END UP WITH THAT
DENSER BAKING SODA-TYPE SNOW FOR AWHILE THAT DOESN/T ADD UP NEARLY
AS QUICK AS DENDRITES/AGGREGATES DO. A COMPROMISE WAS USED FOR
SNOW RATIOS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT...AVERAGING ABOUT 18:1. SOME
OCEAN ENHANCEMENT IS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY COASTAL ROCKINGHAM
COUNTY TO SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY GIVEN THE LARGE SST/AIR TEMP
DIFFERENTIAL AND NORTHEASTERLY FETCH OF WIND. THEREFORE...HIGHEST
STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN PLACED THERE.

OVERALL...CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO GET INCREASINGLY NASTY TOWARD
THURSDAY EVENING AND LAST THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING REGARDLESS OF THE
SNOW AMOUNTS AS WINDS INCREASE...TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILL
VALUES DROP...AND THE FLUFFY SNOW BEGINS TO BLOW AROUND RESULTING
IN SHARPLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES AT TIMES MAINLY ON THE COASTAL
PLAIN. FURTHER INLAND...CONDITIONS WILL BE TAMER."

 

[marnof]

Thinking alike, I see. As I dropped my daughter off in Hartford this morning, we discussed my plan to pitch the tent Thursday and see how warm I can manage to stay overnite in it. And of course the tent challenge from last February came up. Fun times!

 

[coldfeet]

I set up the tent, it's nice but app10lbs. I placed some flower pots over the stakes so that the snow doesn't cover them up tomorrow, needed just one more flower pot, oh well. Took some pics, will take a few more tomorrow when I get home app 5pm. Snow should arrive around then, app 6 in here on Long Island NY. Maybe I'll e mail them to Chip and he can post them here. I invited some friends over Sat night for a snow campfire. We did that last year and had a great time, smores! Be safe, temps will drop big time Fri night.

 

[sardog1]

We're having some kind of fun now … or about to:

".SHORT TERM /6 AM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
MODEL ARE ACTUALLY IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING
ACROSS THE SRN CWFA WILL REMAIN RELATIVELY STABLE FOR THE FIRST
PART OF THE DAY. THOSE MID LVL TEMPS WARM SOME...THEY REMAIN AOB
-8 C FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE AREA. THIS WILL CONTINUE A DEEP SNOW
GROWTH ZONE...AND HIGH RATIO SNFL GOING THRU THE DAY. STRONG
ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL GRADUALLY SPREAD SNFL NWD THRU THE AREA OVER
THE COURSE OF THE DAY. EVENTUALLY CYCLOGENESIS BEGINS IN THE MID
ATLANTIC IN RESPONSE TO SHARP S/WV TROF DIVING THRU THE GREAT
LAKES. AS SFC LOW PRES STRENGTHENS S OF NEW
ENGLAND...FRONTOGENESIS BECOMES A LITTLE MORE DISORGANIZED ACROSS
THE AREA. HOWEVER...THIS WON/T BE BEFORE SEVERAL INCHES OF ACCUM.
ADDITIONALLY NE FLOW OF VERY COLD AIR OVER THE RELATIVELY WARM
WATERS WILL SUPPORT OCEAN EFFECT SNFL. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS FOR KPSM
INDICATE OCEAN INDUCED CAPE ON THE ORDER OF 200 TO 300 J/KG. THIS
PUTS ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN THE CROSS HAIRS FOR ENHANCED QPF...AND
THUS SNFL...AMOUNTS. HIGHEST SNFL TOTALS WILL BE ACROSS SRN NH AND
UP ALONG THE ME COAST. EXPECT THAT HIGHEST TOTALS WILL COME FROM
ROCKINGHAM DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED OCEAN EFFECT. AS LOW PRES
BECOMES THE DOMINANT FORCING...SNFL WILL SPREAD TO THE NW OF THE
SFC CIRCULATION. THIS SN WILL CONTINUE INTO FRI MORNING BEFORE IT
PULLS AWAY TO THE NE.

ECMWF AND NAM ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON QPF NUMBERS...WITH GFS
RUNNING ON THE HIGHER SIDE OF GUIDANCE. AN NERFC BLEND WITH LATEST
ECMWF NUDGED QPF UP SLIGHTLY FROM PREVIOUS SHIFT. 0.50 INCH LINE
RUNS FROM ROUGHLY KLEB...THRU KGYX...AND NEWD TO KRKD. 0.75 INCHES
JUST BRUSHES COASTAL ROCKINGHAM. WITH EXCELLENT SNOW GROWTH
EXPECTED...USED AN AVERAGE BETWEEN 15 AND 20 TO 1 TO PRODUCE SNFL.
GENERALLY 10 TO 12 INCHES EXPECTED ACROSS SRN NH AND COASTAL ME.
TOTALS MAY APPROACH 14 INCHES FOR COASTAL NH...WHERE OCEAN EFFECT
WILL MAKE IT INLAND FOR A TIME. TOTALS DROP AS YOU HEAD NWD...BUT
HIGH RATIOS WILL KEEP GRADIENT FROM BEING TOO SHARP. EVENTUALLY
TOTALS TAPER TO 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS THE CANADIAN BORDER.

SOME OF THE COLDEST AIR IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS WILL ARRIVE FOR
FRI. TEMPS WILL STRUGGLE TO THE SINGLE DIGITS BOTH THU AND
FRI...FALLING BELOW ZERO THU NIGHT FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE AREA.
AS WINDS INCREASE AROUND SFC LOW PRES...WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO
DANGEROUS LEVELS ACROSS MUCH OF INTERIOR ME. HAVE PUT UP A WIND
CHILL WATCH...AS APPARENT TEMPS LOOK TO FALL TO NEAR 35 BELOW FOR
A TIME. MUCH OF THE REST OF THE AREA WILL STILL SEE BITTERLY COLD
WIND CHILLS IN THE 15 TO 25 BELOW RANGE...AND MAY NEED FURTHER
HEADLINES ON SUBSEQUENT SHIFTS.

FINALLY THE ECMWF AND GFS BOTH DEVELOP STRONG ELY FLOW IN THE LOW
TO MID LVLS. THE LOWER LVLS WILL BE FAIRLY WELL MIXED...AND THIS
WILL ALLOW WINDS TO REACH THE SFC RATHER EASILY. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS
FOR THE COAST INDICATE A PERIOD OF 35 MPH OR GREATER GUSTS LATE
THU INTO FRI. THIS WOULD BRING A ROUND OF NEAR BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS...AND SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING GIVEN THE VERY
COLD AIR MASS IN PLACE. NAM...WHICH TYPICALLY PERFORMS WELL IN NE
FLOW FOR THE COAST STRUGGLES TO MAINTAIN WIND GUSTS NEAR BLIZZARD
CRITERIA. SO FOR NOW WILL MENTION IN THE HWO AND WINTER STORM
WARNINGS THAT CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE...WITH LATER SHIFTS TO
MONITOR TRENDS IN GUIDANCE."

 

[coldfeet]

Tent did well, it's a SD dome with a forward hoop to strengthen the vestibule. Snow gathered on the sides and it looks like it squeezed it like a peanut shape. I checked it out today and it still has it's shape inside. I'm going to camp out tonight in my yard. Will use my exped mat and a NF -40 down bag. Temps will be low single digits here on Long Island NY, real feel app -10. Not to sure if that makes a difference because I'll be in the ten without any wind. I set up a mini VFTT gathering in NH this coming Feb so it's time to check out my gear here in my yard. Best place to try it out, if I'm cold hopefully my wife will let me back in. Is it easy to download a pic to share here like others did? Best to all.

 

[Chip]

Here it comes again...

Chip, My SD convertible tent like yours had a fly issue, it started to peel and flake..company stopped making the flies and are discontinuing that tent..they sent me a brand new 4 season tent that I used a few times but it's way to heavy to carry, unless 2 people carry it..I will set it up today...my old tent is still good but I need to get a custom fly for it..SD customer service told me about a place, I might call them one of these days..

Sierra Designs sent you a new 4 season tent because your fly flaked ?

 

[Chip]

Snow gathered on the sides and it looks like it squeezed it like a peanut shape.

If you stake out all the guy lines properly and tension them later, you'd probably avoid the "peanutting".

 

[coldfeet]

Sierra Designs sent you a new 4 season tent because your fly flaked ?

Just sent out message and it disappeared? weird....yep they sent me a new one after checking out the serial number..I bought it at Campmor...I just wanted to know about repairing it..then the plastic window just fell out...without asking they sent me a message and this new tent in the mail..it's heavy at 10lbs but I'm not complaining...guy lines? never use them, i'm to lazy..but one day I'd like to try them out..still have my Omega and want to find out about having a fly made for that tent...so how do i post pics? Going to FB some now...meanwhile my feet are already cold and I'm going out later tonight to camp out...have to be ready both mentally and physically if I want to go up to NH in Feb..

 

[Chip]

..still have my Omega and want to find out about having a fly made for that tent..

That's the type of tent you could find on ebay cheap where someone had wrecked the tent and the fly was good.

...I want to go up to NH in Feb..

Keep me in the loop.

 

[Red Oak]

Had a great time outside this week,spent most of wed/thursday outside,it was great. Made some notes; 1] Time spent maintaining fire maybe better spent keeping warm inside bag.Maybe a small gas stove would cut down on time spent making fire and getting heat for cooking food together. 2] Working outside in cold will make you very hungry! I ate two days worth of food in 12 hours. 3] Do not be afraid to mix and match your gear,you would be surprised what works great together and what does not. I was very happy to accomplish my main goal which was keeping warm when not moving[a tough goal sometimes in minus 10 windchill. some pics; my nap spot;used thick old school tarp on top of piece of cardboard for a pad. Over me I had a old army minus 40 bag from Alaska[1930,s?] and a rain fly from a cheap kmart tent to keep me windproof and dry[not a problem with the cold snow]. Used various items to keep rain fly from blowing away.
another angle of my improvised bivy. I chose this route because setting up my tent,two sleeping pads and using two cold weather bags would make it too easy. Feeling cold air and blowing snow around you keeps it real. wearing my goose down jacket kept me plenty warm.
my fire set up[note plenty of beech and red oak to spare] notes; lots of wind will smoke you out,upgrade to more compact smokeless gas stove.
my normal winter camp. Very comfortable here,not much of a challenge. Thank you mother nature for a good time! Keep the snow a falling!

 

[coldfeet]

Nice Red Oak! So my experience last night wasn't good, failure. I went back into my house around midnight, not because of the cold, just the opposite... to hot!
Things I learned...

1.a nalgene filled with boiling water does heat up the bag sometimes to much! My sleeping bag is cut so narrow at the feet that it was uncomfortable with the bottle there. Then when I moved the bottle in the middle it was to hot near my body... out went the nalgene.
2. Putting on the toes warmers, then down booties made my feet to warm. So now I'm feeling like I have to take the booties off, so I do. Feet were hot and I was afraid to take the socks off.
3. I really hate the narrow mummy cut bag, have had it for almost 10 years and used it maybe 20 times, still hate it. I'm a belly sleeper and like to stretch my arms out, so I wrapped my arms inside my jacket and stretched out.

So, I'm ready to try it out again with a few different ideas. whoo hoo! But not tonight, have friends over for a winter campfire! Stop by if your in the area of Plainview NY!